Chris Rabb extends his support | Morning Newsletter
And a glimpse of what summer has in store.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning, Philly! Let’s start the week off right.
Chris Rabb’s campaign was a massive win for Philly progressives. Now, he wants to replicate it across the country by turning his attention to supporting like-minded candidates.
El Niño, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon, and ongoing dryness are likely to affect summer temperatures in Philly.
Plus, Peco workers voted to authorize a strike but have not stopped working, and more news of the day.
— Sam Stewart (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Spanning from coast to coast, the progressive candidates are among the first wave of endorsements from State Rep. Chris Rabb since his decisive May 19 Democratic primary victory to represent half of Philadelphia in Congress.
Without a Republican opponent in November, Rabb — looking to build on the momentum of his campaign and make the most of his newfound political popularity — has quickly launched himself into other congressional races across the country.
Adam Hamawy is one of the candidates Rabb backed. Hamawy is vying to represent the Trenton-area district where Democratic U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman is retiring.
A political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania weighed in and said it’s not surprising to see Rabb prioritizing intraparty Democratic battles.
In the early going, experts have said this is unlikely to be an especially punitive summer for heat, with temperatures perhaps only slightly above normal in the Philly region. The government’s three-month outlook has probabilities favoring above-normal temperatures in the Northeast. All the outlooks reference El Niño, the atmospheric pot-stirrer that rearranges the pieces that drive day-to-day weather across the globe.
During El Niño, sea-surface temperatures remain above normal by a degree or so for several months over a 2.4 million-square-mile expanse of the east-central tropical Pacific.
And perhaps lost in the snow and ice of winter and recent rains, particularly on Memorial Day weekend, is the fact that it has been mighty dry. Officially, May marked the 10th consecutive month that Philadelphia has had below-normal rainfall, according to the National Weather Service.
If the dryness persists, that would be “concerning,” said Paul Pastelok, AccuWeather’s chief long-range forecaster. “We’re heading into the hotter, higher evaporation months.”
The Inquirer’s Anthony R. Wood has more on what to expect this summer.
What you should know today
Hundreds of Peco union workers voted to strike if their union calls for it, paving the way for what would be the first time in the company’s history that employees walk off the job.
Family members can again visit loved ones at the Delaney Hall in Newark, even as city officials instituted a mandatory curfew Sunday around the immigration detention center after ongoing protests led to clashes between protesters and police officers late Saturday.
Israeli troops have captured a strategic mountain topped with a Crusader-built castle in southern Lebanon in the deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter-century, the military said Sunday.
Democratic state leaders around the country have an unusual strategy to stymie President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion settlement fund for people who claim they were wrongly investigated by the government. Their plan: Tax the payouts at 100%.
More than 200 people have been killed in a bombing campaign by the U.S. military against people it has accused of smuggling drugs in the waters off South America, after a string of deadly attacks over the past week.
Quote of the day
Steven J. Backman, a San Francisco toothpick artist, sculpted a replica of Independence Hall out of a singular white birch toothpick in celebration of the country’s 250th birthday.
🧠 Trivia time
Which artist performed a secret concert in Philly before performing again at the Roots Picnic?
A) Beyoncé
B) Questlove
C) Jaÿ-Z
D) Meek Mill
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🤔 Curious about: Ever wonder which local celebrities are most searched for online? We have a way to find out.
🪡 Learning: Betsy Ross has a great-great-great-great grandson! And on June 14, he’s donating her original sewing table to Philadelphia’s Betsy Ross House.
🎶 Considering: Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hope and Dreams” show in Philly, which was unabashedly partisan and spirit-lifting, writes Dan DeLuca.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: On this reality TV show, a group of single people move to a luxury villa in the hopes of sparking romance.
IDOLS NAVEL
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Tom Giamoni, who solved Sunday’s anagram: Central Bucks. Rather than ban AI in the classroom, a veteran English teacher instead asks kids how they used it.
Photo of the day
📬 Your ‘only in Philly’ story
Think back to the night that changed your life that could only happen in Philly, a true example of the Philly spirit, the time you finally felt like you belonged in Philly if you’re not a lifer, something that made you fall in love with Philly all over again — or proud to be from here if you are. Then email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.
This “only in Philly” story comes from reader Pat Rakowski, who describes summer days in the art museum’s neighborhood:
In the 1980s, my granddaughter often visited our home in the Art Museum neighborhood. When the weather was warm, she’d beg to go for walks.
If I agreed, she’d run upstairs to change into her bathing suit and off we’d go, debating which fountain would be our first stop. Would it be the Fountain of the Sea Horses behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art? Or the cascading fountains flanking the front steps? Or it might be the Washington Monument fountain in Eakins Oval. Another possibility was heading down the Parkway to the Swann Memorial Fountain.
At our destination, she’d jump in to join the other kids there standing under the falling water or wriggling across the concrete bottom. Now, in my waning years, those are some of my fondest memories.
👋 That’s all from me, folks! Have a great day.
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